Editing Cardiff (section)

===Language===
{{See also|Cardiff dialect}}
[[File:Bilingual railway sign - geograph.org.uk - 33133.jpg|thumb|Bilingual signs are commonplace in Cardiff.]]
Cardiff has a chequered linguistic history with [[Welsh language|Welsh]], English, [[Latin]], [[Old Norse|Norse]] and [[Norman language|Norman French]] preponderant at different times. Welsh was the majority language in Cardiff from the 13th century until the city's explosive growth in the [[Victorian era]].<ref name="welsh">{{Cite book |last=Jenkins |first=Geraint H. |title=The Welsh Language before the Industrial Revolution |location=Cardiff |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-7083-1418-0 }}</ref> As late as 1850, five of the 12 [[Anglican]] churches within the current city boundaries conducted their services exclusively in Welsh, while only two worshipped exclusively in English.<ref name="welsh"/> By 1891, the percentage of Welsh speakers had fallen to 27.9% and only [[Lisvane]], [[Llanedeyrn]] and [[Creigiau]] remained as majority Welsh-speaking communities.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Language and Community in the Nineteenth Century |first=Geraint H. |last=Jenkins |isbn=0-7083-1467-8 |year=1998 |publisher=Univ. of Wales Press |location=Cardiff }}</ref> The Welsh language became grouped around a small cluster of chapels and churches, the most notable of which is Tabernacl in the city centre, one of four UK churches chosen to hold official services to commemorate the new millennium.

The city's first Welsh-language school (Ysgol Gymraeg Bryntaf) was established in the 1950s. Welsh has since regained ground.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2755217.stm |title=Census shows Welsh language rise |date=14 February 2003 |publisher=BBC Wales |access-date=19 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080406154822/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2755217.stm |archive-date=6 April 2008 |url-status=live }}</ref> Aided by [[Welsh-medium education]] and migration from other parts of Wales, there are now many more Welsh speakers: their numbers doubled between the 1991 and 2011 censuses, from 18,071 (6.6%) to 36,735 (11.1%) residents aged three years and above.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cardiff.gov.uk/ENG/Your-Council/Strategies-plans-and-policies/Bilingual-Cardiff/Pages/default.aspx |title=Bilingual Cardiff – Cardiff.gov.uk |website=cardiff.gov.uk |language=en-gb |access-date=13 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170721100811/https://www.cardiff.gov.uk/ENG/Your-Council/Strategies-plans-and-policies/Bilingual-Cardiff/Pages/default.aspx |archive-date=21 July 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[LSOA]] (Lower Layer Super Output Area) with the highest percentage of Welsh speakers in the city centre is found in [[Canton, Cardiff|Canton]], at 25.5%.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |url=http://statiaith.com/blog/cyfrifiad-2011/mapiau-am-y-gymraeg-o-gyfrifiad-2011/ |title=Mapiau Cyfrifiad 2011 {{!}} Statiaith |website=statiaith.com |access-date=5 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151215142240/http://statiaith.com/blog/cyfrifiad-2011/mapiau-am-y-gymraeg-o-gyfrifiad-2011/ |archive-date=15 December 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> The LSOA with the highest percentage of Welsh speakers in the whole of Cardiff is [[Whitchurch, Cardiff|Whitchurch]], at 26%.<ref name="auto"/>

[[City of Cardiff Council|Cardiff City Council]] adopted a five-year Welsh-language strategy in 2017, aimed at increasing the number of Welsh speakers (aged 3+) in Cardiff by 15.9%, from 36,735 in 2011 to 42,584 residents by the 2021 Census.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://businessnewswales.com/improving-bilingual-services-welsh-language-standards/ |title=Improving Bilingual Services with the Welsh Language Standards |date=28 June 2017 |work=Business News Wales |access-date=13 July 2017 |language=en-GB |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017145513/https://businessnewswales.com/improving-bilingual-services-welsh-language-standards/ |archive-date=17 October 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Office for National Statistics|ONS]] estimated that in December 2020, 89,900 (24.8%) of Cardiff's population could speak Welsh.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Annual Population Survey – Ability to speak Welsh by local authority and year |url=https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Welsh-Language/Annual-Population-Survey-Welsh-Language/annualpopulationsurveyestimatesofpersonsaged3andoverwhosaytheycanspeakwelsh-by-localauthority-measure |access-date=26 April 2021 |website=statswales.gov.wales |archive-date=20 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190620200907/https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Welsh-Language/Annual-Population-Survey-Welsh-Language/annualpopulationsurveyestimatesofpersonsaged3andoverwhosaytheycanspeakwelsh-by-localauthority-measure |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In addition to English and Welsh, the diversity of Cardiff's population (including foreign students) means that many other languages are spoken. One study has found that Cardiff has speakers of at least 94 languages, with [[Somali language|Somali]], [[Urdu]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]] and [[Arabic language|Arabic]] being the most commonly spoken foreign ones.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cilt.org.uk/pdf/pubs/positively_plurilingual.pdf |title=Positively Plurilingual |access-date=3 January 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071128094815/http://www.cilt.org.uk/pdf/pubs/positively_plurilingual.pdf |archive-date=28 November 2007 }}</ref>

The modern [[Cardiff dialect|Cardiff accent]] is distinct from that of nearby South Wales Valleys. It is marked primarily by:
*Substitution of {{angle bracket|iə}} by {{angle bracket|jøː}}<ref name="Phonetics">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tPwYt3gVbu4C&q=cardiff%20accent&pg=PA87 |title=English in Wales: Diversity, Conflict, and Change |first1=Nikolas |last1=Coupland |first2=Alan Richard |last2=Thomas |date=1 January 1990 |publisher=Multilingual Matters |isbn=9781853590313 |via=Google Books |access-date=19 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319200135/https://books.google.com/books?id=tPwYt3gVbu4C&pg=PA87&lpg=PA87&dq=cardiff%20accent&source=bl&ots=G0VLcC5XKi&sig=PQ-dMr1AN-fnS86oZt6fLqBb8bU&hl=en&ei=TMeOS_3BKI6A4Qaq6YitDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CA8Q6AEwBDgy#v=onepage&q=cardiff%20accent&f=false |archive-date=19 March 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Cardiff accent">{{Cite web |url=http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/wales/cardiff/ |title=Accents and dialects of the UK: Cardiff ''Accessed 2 March 2010'' |access-date=8 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805064351/http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/sounds/text-only/wales/cardiff/ |archive-date=5 August 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*''here'' [hiːə] pronounced as {{Not a typo|[(h)jøː]}} in the broader form{{clarify|date=December 2019}}
*The vowel of ''start'' may be realised as {{IPA|[æː]}} or even {{IPA|[ɛː]}}, so that ''Cardiff'' is pronounced {{IPA|[ˈkæːdɪf]}}.

====Language schools====
Due to its diversity and large student population, more people now come to the city to learn English. Foreign students from Arab states and other European countries are a common sight on the streets of Cardiff.<ref name="2008 population"/> The [[British Council]] has an office in the city centre and there are six accredited schools in the area.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.britishcouncil.org/accreditation-az-list.htm |title=A-Z list of accredited centres |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100601085533/http://www.britishcouncil.org/accreditation-az-list.htm |archive-date=1 June 2010 }}</ref>